Manifest Destiny & Westward Expansion of the Nation

Name:______Period:______

HOMEWORK WEEK 26

Directions: Use your notes and handouts from class as well as what’s provided here to complete pages 3 and 4.

TRAILS WEST

There were three main trails that most people took to go west. They were the Mormon trail, Oregon trail, and Santa Fe trail. Many settlers wanted to go west because they believed America was meant to expand to the Pacific Ocean. This belief is called Manifest Destiny.

Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail was a 2,000 mile wheeled wagon route and trail that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The beginnings of the Oregon Trail were laid by fur trappers and traders and were only passable on foot or horseback. When the first migrant wagon train was organized, a wagon trail was cleared. This made the trips faster and safer almost every year. Over 250,000 Americans traveled this route to Oregon seeking a better life. They started lumber businesses and farmed the rich land.

Mormon Trail

The Mormon Trail is the 1,300 mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints traveled from in the years of 1846 to 1868 to escape religious persecution. Today the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States national trails systems, as the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail. The Mormon Trail extends form Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah. The land in Utah before the Mormons arrived was not productive at all. It was natural and had no permanent residents except groups of Native Americans. The Mormons irrigated and tilled the ground.

Santa Fe Trail

The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century transportation route that connected Franklin, Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. At first, it was an international trade route between the United States and Mexico. It also served as the 1846 U.S. invasion route of New Mexico during the Mexican-American war. Many 49ers traveled this trail trying to get to California in the hopes of finding gold. The gold seekers were called forty-niners for the year 1849 when the Gold Rush at its peak. Not everyone who came to California wanted to work in the Gold fields. Many men and women came to start businesses. Some sold clothing to the miners. Others sold food or mining equipment. Others cooked and ran hotels. The gold rush lasted just 4 years. By 1852, forty-niners had mined gold worth more than $80 million!
http://www.wps.k12.va.us/tchrstaf/plans/westhandout.pdf
http://unitedstateswestwardexpansion.weebly.com/trails-west.html

Part I – Thinking Skills: In each box, spotlight one group of people who migrated west and create an illustration to represent them, their route, and their reason for moving west.

Part II – Geography Skills: Follow the directions to label the map on the front page AND answer the questions below. There are multiple steps, so do one at a time to be sure you complete each task.

1. Label the Louisiana Territory on your map and highlight its borders. What year was this purchase made? How did adding this region change the size of the nation?

2. How might the United States’ purchase of the Louisiana Territory encourage American settlers to later travel to Oregon and California?

3. Highlight the borders of Texas and the Mexican Cession in different colors. Label these two regions. When was each region added to the United States? What OTHER territory was acquired from Mexico? Label it on your map.

4. Label the map on the right with sentences that explain why the US Congress declared war on Mexico in 1848?

5. Complete the chart below by sequencing the following events in the order they occurred. Note the cause and effectsof each action that leads to the next:

· US Mexican War

· Texas wins its independence from Mexico

· Gadsden Purchase

· Texas joins the United States

· Mexico loses California, New Mexico, Arizona, and parts of Colorado in the Mexican Cession.

6. What three trails crossed the Louisiana Territory from Independence, Missouri? Draw and label each trail. Locate and label the cities at the end of each trail. Locate and label the city of Independence.

7. Label and lightly shade the Oregon Country. When did it become part of the United States?

8. Which rivers and mountain ranges did settlers have to cross when traveling the Santa Fe Trail to California? Label those rivers and mountains.

9. Why do you think the Mormon, Oregon, and Santa Fe trails each followed rivers for such a long distance? What benefit would such a route have for travelers?

10. The Gateway Arch opened in St. Louis, Missouri in 1967. Examine the picture on the right, and explain why you believe this particular monument was built the way it was and why it was built in St. Louis. What river runs next to it, and what is its significance in our study of Westward Expansion?